four
fluctus inpulsa.

THE NEXT DAY is a bit of a bore for Isabelle. Hope, Lizzie, and Josie end up having to go volunteer in town, because Hope practiced black magic, and Lizzie and Josie used their powers at a football game in front of mundanes. All three had good reasons, but it didn't stop Alaric from punishing them. Landon and Rafael also aren't around, because instead of going to the car the other day, they ran away. Alaric called Jeremy Gilbert, and hired him to find them but he hasn't had any luck yet.

So she was studying in the library for most of the day. At least until her school counselor, Emma comes rushing into the room with several younger witches and warlocks. She's carrying Lizzie in her arms, and it appears the Saltzman girl can't move.

"Everyone, stay quiet," Emma demands as she sets Lizzie on the table. Lizzie quickly makes eye contact with Isabelle, and the fear in her eyes is obvious. Isabelle stares at the girl in shock before looking at Emma for help.

"What happened?"

"There's a monster in the school, so help me make it unable to see us," Emma counters before she joins hands with Isabelle. The younger witch nods at her before the pair state the spell in unison. "Nullum visilaris."

Isabelle then stares at the woman in shock, quickly growing confused. "How'd it get past the wards?"

"I have no idea, but Alaric found Lizzie like this. That thing poisoned her," the witch shakes her head as a being that looks like a statue with glowing red eyes peers into the room, growling its fangs. Emma and Isabelle both hold their breath, hoping the spell worked. As soon as the gargoyle is gone, Isabelle reaches for the doorknob, only for Emma to gasp. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To find Dr.Saltzman," she answers instinctively, knowing there's no way the headmaster would be able to fight that thing off by himself. She then smiles assuringly at Emma. "I can protect myself."

Emma protests, but it doesn't stop Isabelle from slipping out of the library, using her powers to lock it behind her. She wonders through the halls of the school cautiously, keeping an eye out for the monster. She then finds Alaric and Hope, and she raises an eyebrow at the Mikaelson girl. "I thought you were volunteering?"

Hope jumps, narrowing her eyes at her friend. "You scared me, Iz. Don't do that."

"Dorian was supposed to keep you away," Alaric sighs, only for Hope to shrug lightly at them.

"He tried. He lost. But here."

She then hands Alaric a book called Midevil French Folkore with a smirk. "Killing Gargoyles 101. He thought one of you could translate it."

"Gaulish," Alaric realizes as him and Isabelle scan a couple of pages. The Castiel girl then frowns, exchanging a glance with the headmaster.

"Well, I could've figured that out. All we have to do is hit it-"

She cuts off as the trio hear the gargoyle roar from somewhere on the other side of the school. Hope's eyes then widen. "Is that-"

"Yep," Alaric nods with a sigh. "Listen, it poisoned Lizzie. I'm guessing, to get my attention. Then it attacked me and took the knife."

"It took the knife?" Isabelle bites her lip, staring at him in disbelief. "The knife the dragon came after? God, what's so important about this thing? Wait... Dr.Saltzman, the gargoyle left you alive?"

"Yeah, I have a theory about that," he replies as Hope rolls her eyes, realizing she's made a big mistake.

"Yeah, well, save it, because we had to take down the containment spell to get inside the school, meaning our monster can get out."

"Containment spell? Lizzie wanted to make sure whatever attacked her didn't escape into the world. Good girl. All right, well, guess we better find it before it makes the evening news."

Alaric pulls two axes off of a wall display as Isabelle looks at her friend questioningly. "You said we. Who helped you take down the containment spell?"

"I did," Josie intervenes, walking into the room and grabbing one of the axes out of her father's hands before glaring at him. "And I have questions."

"Ones Dr.Saltzman will answer after we deal with the gargoyle," Isabelle adds for her before the group head to the library.

Emma opens the door for them, but then she gapes at something behind them. She quickly brings her finger to her lips, motioning for them to be quiet. Isabelle tenses before all of them slowly turn around, hearing the gargoyle roar.

Emma slides the library door closed as the gargoyle flies towards Hope, knocking her off of her feet with a squeal. Isabelle goes to help her, only for Alaric to jump in front of the tribrid, throwing his hands in the air. "No!"

"Dad!" Josie yells in fear as Isabelle shouts, "Dr.Saltzman!"

Isabelle helps Hope to her feet as the gargoyle holds the knife to Alaric's chest, hesitating to kill him. Isabelle then shoots out her hand, using her powers to grab a sword off of a display on the wall. "Motus!"

She then hits the being with it as hard as she can as Josie and Alaric rain blows onto it with their axes. As they do so, Hope uses her powers to hit the being with a ridiculous amount of magical energy. It groans in pain, dropping the knife. "Fluctus inpulsa!"

She then yells for her friends to help her and Isabelle and Josie abandon their weapons to join Hope's side. The trio join hands, chanting the spell. "Fluctus inpulsa. Fluctus inpulsa. Fluctus inpulsa. Fluctus inpulsa. Fluctus inpulsa. Fluctus inpulsa!"

As they repeat it one last time, the gargoyle explodes into a hundred pieces of stone. Debris fills the room as Josie turns to her father angrily, tears in her eyes. "How could you jump in front of her like that? You could have died, Dad."

"Honey, I knew it wouldn't kill me, because my research said so," he states before looking at Hope with a guilty look on his face.

Isabelle slips away from them to pick up the knife. She feels the cool metal in her hands before she turns to her headmaster. "How'd you know... that it wouldn't kill you?"

"Gargoyles are protectors," Alaric explains, taking the knife from her carefully. He then leads her and Hope into his office, putting the knife in his safe. "And folklore tells a tale of a gargoyle who once protected a small settlement in France whose villagers revered a powerful relic. A knife. As the story goes, the gargoyle loved the humans he protected so much, he vowed never to harm humanity. Instead, he chose to fight evil on their behalf."

"So to the gargoyle, we're evil?" The Castiel girl infers, motioning to her and Hope. "Josie and Lizzie..."

"In its mind, yes. I realized when it didn't hurt me before... it saw me as the one who needed protection."

"I'm not sure that knowing that will make them feel any better," Hope admits as Alaric rubs his forehead tiredly.

"I should go check on the girls."

After going to check on his daughters, something must've clicked inside Alaric's mind. He realized he couldn't keep lying to them or the rest of the school. So he calls the entire school to the library where he stands at the podium, looking like they've opened Pandora's Box.

"If you'd asked me a week ago, I would have told you I knew the difference between myth and fact. I would have said that supernaturals were limited to the species under this roof. I would have said that folklore and fairy tales were just stories. But I can no longer say that any of that's true. 'Cause just a few days ago, we were confronted by the existence of a dragon. And then, today, our campus was terrorized by a gargoyle that came to life. Some of us were forced to fight. We won. This time. They were drawn here by a knife that went missing earlier this week. And for whatever reason, these creatures consider us to be the enemy. In their minds, we're the villains, because we won't give them what they want. We don't even know why they want it. But we're gonna find out. I can't say for sure what their true intentions are. I can't say there won't be more attacks. That's why I'm telling you this. To warn you. To ask you to look out for each other. To do what's best for one another. Because we're more than just a school. We're a family. And we will stand together, we will fight together, and we will win or lose this battle together, no matter what comes next."

Afterwards, Isabelle goes to head to her room, but she stops in her tracks once she sees a friend of the family, Jeremy Gilbert. Despite being tired, her face lights up like a Christmas tree. "Jeremy!"

She yells his name, and he smiles once he turns around and sees her. She runs over to him and throws her arms around him, embracing him for the first time in a long time. Jeremy had once been close friends with Isabelle's older sister, Elsie, but she was killed a long time ago. It took both of them a long time to mourn, but in that time, Jeremy's become like an older brother to her.

"You look good, Belle," Jeremy grins at the witch as he pulls away from her. "How have you-"

He trails off as Isabelle notices the two boys standing beside him, Landon and Rafael. Both boys are looking at them, puzzled as she smiles warmly at them, her words genuine. "I'm glad you're back. Both of you."

UNEDITED